Teacher Developed Setting
You are an entrepreneur who has created a business around a product. You will present your business plan to potential investors (sharks), requesting funding in exchange for a percentage of your business. Based on your presentation, the sharks will decide to make a deal or not.
Products
Students will create a business plan and presentation around a product they create to solve a problem they see in their school or community.
Connections
Foundations
Activities
Activity 1 (Days 1–2): Brainstorming and Creating
Formative Assessments
- Group Product or Service
- Slogan
Materials
- sticky notes, 1 per student
- computers, laptops, or tablets
- slogan videos:
- slogan prizes
Instructional Procedures
- Pass out a sticky note to each student. Have them anonymously write down a problem they see in their school, community, or in a product they need or currently use.
- Randomly stick the completed notes on computers around the room.
- Organize the class into groups of four and have them sit as a group in front of four computers, laptops, or tablets.
- Provide the following brainstorm prompt: “Define and refine the problem. Go deeper. What is the real cause of the problem?”
- Instruct the students to type an idea or ideas on their own computer silently. (If computers are not available, this can be done on paper.)
- Students move to the next computer, read what was typed, and add thoughts and ideas.
- Continue rotating and adding refinements to each problem until students are back at their computer. Only rotate through the four group members’ computers.
- Explain to the students that they are entrepreneurs who will be creating a business around a product. They will present their business plan to potential investors (sharks), requesting funding in exchange for a percentage of their business. Based on their presentation, the sharks will decide to make a deal or not.
- Have the groups look at the solutions to just one of their group problems as possibilities for a product or service they can develop for their company. Product guidelines include:
- Have only one product or service.
- Welcome crazy ideas. Sometimes the wilder the idea the better.
- Focus on customers within a 20-mile radius (further if in a rural community).
- Groups should discuss and vote to pick their product or service and company name.
- Introduce slogans by showing one or more of the slogan videos.
- Instruct students to come up with a slogan and create something digital for their slogan and product or service with a time limit. Allow them to use any application, but this must be complete by the end of the second day. Briefly discuss how time constraints relate to real world applications such as meeting deadlines. Make it a competition among teams with a prize. This creation will later be included in the shark presentations along with the rest of the project requirements.
- Share the group creations and award slogan prizes.
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